Exchanges of fire between Lebanon and Israel are now regular and raise fears of a regional escalation. These attacks, on both sides of the border, began in October 2023. The two parties are avoiding ground confrontation for the moment.
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Hamas fighters have “ launched a salvo of rockets from southern Lebanon towards » from an Israeli military position, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on Telegram. The Israeli army, for its part, told AFP that “ around twenty shots were carried out from Lebanon on Israeli territory “, adding that they had intercepted most of the rockets and had struck ” the origin of the fire. “No injuries or damage were reported,” the Israeli army said.
Read alsoIsrael launches “offensive action” on southern Lebanon
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the escalation of tensions between Hezbollah and Israel has not stopped. Lebanese Hezbollah carries out daily firing on the Lebanese-Israeli border in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement. Palestinian factions and other allied groups have also claimed cross-border attacks from Lebanon.
A previous attack by the armed wing of Hamas took place on April 21. On January 2, a drone attack blamed on Israel on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, caused the death of senior Palestinian movement official Saleh Arouri.
At least 385 people, including 254 Hezbollah fighters and 73 civilians, were killed in Lebanon, according to an AFP count. At least 11 Hamas fighters were killed according to the same count. On the Israeli side, 20 people including 11 soldiers and nine civilians were killed, according to the official report. Many people have been displaced on both sides of the border.
Hamas is due to announce this Monday April 29 in Cairo its response to an Israeli counter-proposal on a possible truce with an exchange of prisoners. On Sunday evening, the Islamist organization said it did not see any major problem with the proposed truce from Egypt, one of the mediators in this crisis. The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, expressed the hope that Hamas would accept a proposal “ extraordinarily generous » to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages.
Read alsoHamas studies a counter-proposal for a truce in Gaza, France wants to stem tensions in Lebanon